1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera apparatus suitable to be applied, for example, to a digital video camera apparatus which is made super-small sized and can record and reproduce with a high-density, and in more detail to such a camera apparatus where a lens block constituting an optical portion can pop-up with respect to a camera-body, the lens can be protected when it is in a housed condition and a holding feeling of the camera is improved when the camera is in a taking-picture condition.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, various types of video cameras and digital still cameras which were made super-small sized have been developed. However, in any of the cameras, a lens for taking pictures is arranged at the front face of the camera-body as a fixed type.
Additionally, for the lens of the conventional fixed type, the lens was protected by attaching a detachable cap to the lens tip portion or by building-in a shutter type barrier mechanism.
However, for the camera of the fixed type lens, other devices cannot be arranged at the lens front side, so that the camera grip position and another device area should be positioned or secured at other positions, and consequently it became an obstruction for a smaller sized camera.
Further, the detachable cap might be easily missed or the attaching and detaching operation thereof is troublesome, and the lens face side cannot be utilized for a space of other devices. Additionally, in case of the shutter type barrier mechanism it is avoided from the matter of missing and avoided from the troublesome matter of attaching and detaching, but the lens face side cannot be utilized for a space of other devices just same as the detachable cap case.
As mentioned above, various devices are arranged on the side surface or upper and lower surfaces of the camera-body and the grip region of the camera was secured at a portion other than the lens area.
In more detail, when a video camera having a fixed type lens at the front face side of the camera is taken as an example, the posture of a human hand will become a condition of bended to a direction of an approximately right angle when gripping the camera for taking a picture, so that it becomes a problem that the posture of this taking-picture causes weariness of the wrist such that it becomes painful to maintain a taking-picture condition for long hours.